Ohio Obituaries

Ohio Obituary Index - www.rbhayes.org/index

The Ohio Obituary Index was compiled from original newspapers by Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center Library staff and volunteers. Starting in 2001, other Ohio libraries started entering data into the Index, so it now extends beyond the holdings of the Hayes Presidential Library. As of this date, 42 libraries are partners in the Ohio Obituary Index and are indexing old and current newspaper entries, totaling more than 1.6 million obituaries from 1810-2010.

In the beginning, the Index covered complete indexing of newspapers from Sandusky County, but now includes indexing from almost every northwest Ohio county. Other Ohio counties with good coverage include Wayne, Washington, Auglaize, Ross, Gallia, Belmont, Highland, Franklin, Wood and Clark counties. See the map on the top page of the Hayes website for all the partner libraries.http://index.rbhayes.org/hayes/index/display.asp?id=934&subj=index

Besides newpaper obituaries, the Index also covers many other sources, especially in Sandusky and nearby counties, including wills and estates, funeral home records, local histories, some marriage announcements, and cemetery listings.

The Ohio Obituary Index became even more popular on January 7, 2010 when Ancestry.com merged the Index with its huge online database. Ancestry is a subscription-based genealogy research website with more than four billion records online, and more being added daily. The Obituary Index will remain on the Hayes website www.rbhayes.org/index and always will be free to the public despite the duplication on Ancestry.com which just expands its web presence.

Rebecca B. Hill  bhill@rbhayes.org
Head Librarian
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
Fremont, OH 43420

19 August 2010